The Great Corruption
In ancient times, back when the Andarill Kingdom had only just been forged, an enternal being known only as the Defiler sought to conquer to known world, and enslave all its inhabitants. This war was the greatest in history and forced unlikely alliances between races to stand against the common enemy, some of these alliances still hold to this day. Events leading up to The most common and praised gods of the civilized world are the Kontalonian Gods. They're said to be the spiritual children of the Allfather who died after creating and forging the planes of reality, because in order to breathe life into his creations, he had to sacrifice his own. Atun Avorim was a renowned prophet and herald who served the Andarill king Terion. He was believed to speak the words of the gods and thus also served as an oracle. Atun travelled wide and far across the Andarill Provinces to different cities and villages. He was an extremely skilled mage and was on-par with several royal Arch-mages, besides that he was also an expert swordsman, and would almost always be seen travelling with his claymore strapped to his back. But in reality, his strongest feat was his wisdom and clarity for the world. Since he served as an oracle through the Gods, he was given infinite brilliance. In these times, no one knew of the Defiler and what its intentions were. The Defiler had been flowing the Great Beyond in millenia, searching for a proper body to possess. Due to its enormous power, since it was a child of the Allfather too, it hadn't been able to find a proper host yet. During its almost infinite slumber and waiting, it had planned on taking over the realm of Ythmiria (navn til verdenen? bare midlertidigt hvis du ikke kan lide). All of its brethren were now praised around the world as deities and their names carried out through war and prayers. Since the Defiler had no particular elemental power unlike its kin, it could find no worshippers and were forced to dwell in the Great Beyond - the void between planes. As the centuries passed, it became mad due to its mad jealousy of its brethren. When Atun was born and chose to be an oracle, the Defiler instantly felt his presence. He then waited for him to grow. Once Atun reached his prime - the Defiler possessed him. While possessed, Atun lost all of his own willpower and sense of humanity; the Defiler had full control of Atun as his human vessel. Thus began the Defiler's reign. The early stages Since Atun had such a high position in the Andarill hierachy, the Defiler had little trouble playing his mascerade and pulling his strings. While Atun was possessed, he could no longer receive the word of the Gods and the Defiler used this to his advantage. His first step was to divide the mighty Andarill army. At his oracle ceremony, where the king and all influenced nobles gathered to hear the word of the Gods, Atun recommended something seemingly preposterous. He said that King Terion should send additional reinforcements to the northern borders, where the Andarill were waging a lesser war against the barbaric Karn. It was merely a war for the sake of conflict and because the Karn were pillaging villages behind the Andarill northern border. Atun said they should finish the war once and for all and double their amount of troops in the North. It was only because he was an oracle and they almost blindly trusted his every word, that King Terion oblieged. The Defiler was now ready for the next step; summoning his army. With the combinati on of Atuns powerful magical abilities and the Defilers godlike skills, he managed to tear open a rift through the planes of reality, reaching through the Great Beyond and into the mysterious and harsh homeworld of the Khirm. Having manipulated and promised eternal riches and domination of a new world to the Khirmian emperor Xel'nethor, the Defiler had established an extremely dangerous and relentless army - all under his command. The black Khirm legions marched through the portal and into Ythmirias realm - the biggest war known to historians had begun; the Great Corruption. Main events and ending During this time period, the Andarill Kingdom's power was divided into the three main capital cities; Tyria, Noarn and Quarr. After having unleashed his ferocious and vengeful army of the Khirm, the Defiler sought to conquer Tyria first. Tyria was considered the royal city of the three, since it contained the throneroom for the Andarill Kings - in other words, the main city of the three, or atleast with the greatest symbolic value to the humans of the Andarill Provinces. Since Tyria's defences were weakened by the kings campaign to the north, their troops were no match for the black Khirm legions. Only a few days after the Andarill batallions left Tyria, the Defiler marched on the city. The siege lasted only two days and it was over - the mighty city had fallen completly. The Khirm emperor Xel'nethor wanted to pillage the city, strip it of any value and enslave its surviving inhabitants. Since the Defiler had no real empathy for mankind, or any other race for that matter, it allowed their onslaught. King Terion never had enough time to act on the Defilers sudden attack on the capital and whilst having his forces divided, he never managed to send reinforcements to the city. Since Terion had only Noarn and Quarr left, he decided to play the war safe and reinforce and establish strong defences on the two remaining cities. The bells were rung, and the countryside were emptied and all civilians sent in behind the walls of the two cities. The Defiler and Xel'nethor deemed Quarr too unworthy to conquer first, because the city was too remote in the Andarill Provinces and they feared King Terion could establish temporary alliances meanwhile. While marching on Noarn, the Khirm Legions pillaged, plundered and burned several Andarill villages on their way. When they stood at the gates of Noarn, the Defiler didn't know King Terion had hired the ferocious Hyperion Mantle mercenary company commanded by Erastos the Unbroken and that their soldiers stood in the first line of defence behind the gates. Even more of them stationed outside Noarn, in the foggy highlands sorrounding the city, laying in ambush on the black army (- to see a further explained version of the Hyperion Mantles part in the siege, go to their page.) Emperor Xel'nethor died in the siege after a long and brutal last stand in the midst of battle. As he saw the Defiler stabbed in the back by a Hyperion hoplite, thus killing the body of Atun Avorim, he knew th e war was over. Being unable to escape the city, the vengeful emperor stood with his last Blackblades and fought to their dying breath. Xel'nethor managed to kill King Terions firstborn son, prince of Tyria, and several of his royal knights before getting overwhelmed. The humans of Andarill had succeeded in defending their city, but the losses were colossal. Their before striving economy was broken, tons of civilians - and even more soldiers, killed. On the top of that, the city of Tyria was lost forever, too demolished to being rebuilt and its legacy gone, only portrayed today by mere ruins. The Great Corruption stands as a monument to the worst war in Andarill history - and the portal which the possessed Atun created to summon the Khirm still hails on the outskirts of the Ruins of Tyria to this day. Since the Andarill haven't been able to close this portal using their powerful sorcery, they guard it instead - day and night. A special order has been established by the old King Terion, an order meant to protect the portal from any intruders, and to send patrols into the portal and scout the land. No scouting patrols have ever reported any sights of Khirm ever since the war. This order is still active this day.